Ezekiel was equally on his own, having broken away from the only home he had ever known and now wandered the lands by himself. It was lonely. He was lonely. But he should have done that long ago. Despite how much he kept telling himself he wouldn't have gotten out on his own had the little boy not helped him, he still beat himself up from time to time for staying there and not even trying.
Unlike Gisli, but also similarly, Ezekiel had been kept captive against his will, trapped where he had been by humans who'd raised him from a young foal when they snatched him from his mother. They raised kirin and unicorns to train up their healing powers before killing them with the purpose of selling off body parts. Some were kept as breeding stock, if they proved more useful to pass on their abilities to the next generation. Ezekiel might have been one of those
lucky stallions had the little boy not set free all the animals being kept locked up, disappearing into the night with them all as the camp burned down to the ground. The memory of it all still made him terribly nervous at night, jumping at every shadow and paranoid of every sound. He only felt comfortable when he found somewhere up high to sleep.
This nervousness found him today, as the scent of another was getting closer and closer to the spot where he had been grazing on a patch of clovers. The Soquili getting closer didn't smell dangerous, and Ezekiel didn't have any memories of cruel equines in his past. Just of cruel humans. But one never did know, right?
He debated just running, but they would hear his hooves as they beat heavy on the ground in his escape. Maybe if he stayed really quiet, they would just leave him alone.
But as he stepped back a bit, a branch caught under a back hoof and snapped. Instantly, his whole body went rigid, waiting for the retaliation to his stupidity. Nothing happened. So he squared up his shoulders and forced a bit of confidence into his body, edging closer, pale eyes seeing through the soft pink of his forelock. He poked his head out from behind a bush that had been blocking his view, turning his head slightly to get a better look at the equally bright stallion who had joined him in the forest this day. He took note of the double pair of wings. The smaller set tucked behind the ears. The set on his back hooves. The flowing feathers covering the pale hooves. All those were Angeni traits. Angeni were nothing to fear! Ezekiel had never met one, but he had heard tales that they were always kind and wise. He shouldn't hide.
Stepping out where he could be seen, he bowed his head respectfully, making his movements slow and closing his eyes.
"Good day!" he greeted, a little louder than he had intended. He raised his head back up, blowing up at his long forelock to get it out of his face. A little softer, he added,
"I, uh...Don't often have company."